


Trash Talk

by LizLondon87



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, National Football League RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Football, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Fluff, M/M, New England Patriots, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:13:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23558149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizLondon87/pseuds/LizLondon87
Summary: Steve was born and raised in New York. But after some things happen to him he no longer wants to be in the city so he moves to Boston and starts working for a high class catering company. One day he gets word that he'll be catering for the New England Patriots' ring ceremony. He, a Jets die hard fan is one minute away from picking a fight with the hot receiver that keeps screaming that the Jets are trash. Bucky however is screaming this because he thinks that specific scrappy waiter looks cute when he's annoyed.You'll love it, give it a chance.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	Trash Talk

When James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes was drafted by the Jets, he was over the moon. He grew up as a New Yorker and ever since his ma took him to flag football as a kid he always dreamed of playing for a New York team. He played three seasons as the star receiver and he was really frustrated. He gave his best, he trained hard but this damn team just couldn't even make it to the playoffs. When he got news that the Jets had traded him in the off-season to the Patriots for a 4th round pick he was livid. First, how could he play for the team that had taken all the glory from the New York team for almost two decades and second, a 4th round pick? Really? He had the best numbers in the whole roster. How dare them.

When he did move to Boston and he started training with the infamous Patriots he finally found his place in the world. He instantly clicked with the rest of the team and quickly adapted to the dynamics of the group. The off-season quickly turned into a winning regular season and in the playoffs he helped the team easily defeat the Colts and the Steelers which put the Patriots in the Super Bowl. 

The Big Apple press was quickly taking it against Bucky, how could a New Yorker be so at home in the state's worst rival. He was being called a traitor and people were honestly mad at him. Bucky however was on cloud 9. He was making catches left and right with one arm and the nickname 'Metal Arm Bucky' was catching on pretty quickly in the New England press. When they won the Super Bowl it was because of a touchdown Metal Arm Bucky scored with his left arm and jumping over the other team's defense's head when there were 23 seconds left on the clock.

Steve Grant Rogers, number one fan of all teams New York had to witness how his favourite Jets player got traded to the Patriots and then he single metal-armedly helped them win yet another Super Bowl. He was also pretty annoyed at having a major in Arts from a tiny collage in the outskirts of New York City and about having to take catering jobs so he could pay all his student loans. He was even more annoyed when he discovered that his high school sweetheart Shannon had been cheating on him with his best friend Brock.

For the first time on his life he was starting to feel a little bit sick of New York.  
"Maybe you should move away," said Natasha, his other best friend.  
"What? Like you? Running away so you can live with Sam?" Steve tried very hard to hide his annoyance.  
"I'm not running away, he got a big promotion and I can teach martial arts anywhere. It just made more sense," answered the redhead for the seventh time that week.  
"Anyways I can't believe you see my life falling apart and you two decide to abandon me here," replied the blond.   
"Steve, why don't you come with us?" Steve started to make a face "No not to live with us, just, we all move to the same city. You probably will find more gigs there, New York is full of artists" Natasha had been thinking of suggesting this to Steve but only now she dared to say it out loud.  
"I mean it'd make sense, ever since my mom passed away and I finished college all that bounded me to New York doesn't look that set in stone anymore," the redhead was surprised at how Steve had described his life in the city but didn't say much.  
Natasha didn't miss out on the opportunity to tease her friend. "You see? And Boston is not that bad. If it's good enough for your crush maybe it'll be good enough for you," she said with a smirk.  
"Oh god, I had forgotten that was the start of this terrible year," Steve groaned. "If Bucky hadn't left the Jets this wouldn't have happened. I can't believe he won them another ring."  
"If he still played for the Jets your girlfriend might have not cheated on you with your friend, you wouldn't be buried in student loans and we wouldn't be leaving?" Natasha questioned, highly amused.  
Steve gave her the side eye. "Anyways, let me call Coulson, he heard Mr. Stark was going to open a branch of the company in Boston, he offered to transfer me and at the time it seemed unthinkable but now maybe it'd be a good option." answered Steve while pulling out his phone.  
"Oh my god I can't believe we are actually doing this, wait until Sam hears you might go with us" said Natasha beaming.

"And so it went, I moved to Boston three months ago and, I'm currently staying with my friends but as this is such a good job I might be able to afford a new place with a couple of roommates soon. But I'm only doing catering until then. After I'll start looking for a job as an art teacher, I think I really should put that degree to good use, otherwi-" Steve interrupted his retelling when their boss started speaking.  
"If you two don't stop chatting and get to the meeting in exactly three seconds I'll make you scrub every single fork five times" he threatened.  
"Sorry Nick, you know how Steve is" answered his work friend Peggy with a smile.  
Steve, Peggy and Nick got into the room the meeting was going to take place in, mister Fury went to the front of the room and started to address the room. "Good morning everyone, I know we don't usually have staff meetings so I thank you for being here today. You know we have only started operations in Boston, but after the success we had at the Favreau wedding, mister Stark has decided to merge the company with The Kraft Group and he wanted me to tell you your contracts will not suffer any alterations, your jobs are safe" announced Nick, a collective gasp of relief was heard in the room.  
"But, the events we handle will be a little bit more high end. We already have our first mission. We are going to cater for the Patriots ring ceremony" finished Fury.  
Murmurs of excitement overcame the place as most of the other employees were born and raised in the New England area.  
"Oh, hell no," lamented Steve quietly. "Not the Patriots"  
"What's the matter, you don't like them?" asked his other work friend Scott.  
"Lang, I'm from New York," answered Steve, not having to say much more.  
Scott and Peggy started laughing. "This will be fun," said Peggy thorough her laughter.

At some point in between the two weeks before the ring ceremony and after enduring the laughs of both Natasha and Sam it dawned on him that he was going to see his crush Bucky Barnes pretty up close, but he tried to put it off his mind and instead he distracted himself with the anger of having to serve the Boston team. It was pure mental health, really: some months ago he was just a guy and in some days he would be a guy who was in the same room as one of the greatest players of this generation (not to mention the hottest man Steve had ever seen). 

Steve arrived sharp at the mansion of Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots. Most of all the other staff members were already there. Fury started going over everyone's assignments one more time before the whole thing started. After he reminded all the staff of their roles he approached Steve. "Clint won't be able to make it so you are now on the ring distribution group too, ask Peggy what do you have to do" and with that he went on to talk to the cooks to tend to the last details. Steve went red. "Oh no, no no. It's not enough that I have to see them bask in their success now I have to be the one to bring their rings?"  
"Hey calm down, we have talked this over. You come, you give them the food, you refill the glasses, now you'll bring them the boxes and you get out, pretend this is just another wedding or graduation. And who knows maybe you'll get to bring the ring to that player you like so much" said Peggy trying to reassure him, not knowing that just made Steve more nervous. 

When the players started arriving Steve stayed by his table, waiting to see what they would want to drink when they got there. Steve was trying to read the name tags of who would be sitting in his table when one James "Metal Arm Bucky" Barnes appeared on his line of vision walking towards him. "Excuse me, are you the waiter of this table?" Steve nodded but couldn't say anything. "Can I get a glass of your finest red wine? I wanted to ask you before this other brutes get your attention and you forget my order." Bucky said flashing a charming smile. In that moment two other players got to the table. "Oh yeah, the singles table. No dates and more room for bros" hollered a monster of a man wearing a bright orange tuxedo. "Yo, waiter boy, bring three beers for me, my man Jules and my man Bucky, pronto" Steve was still in shock after having talked to the love of his life so he just turned around to get the beverages. 

With his tray packed with three Samuel Adams, a glass of wine and two pitchers of water he returned to the table to see all the sits already occupied with players and as the big man had said it was all guys unlike the other tables who had mothers, wives and girlfriends who were supporting their men. "I'm telling you, I'm the happiest guy in this room. And not for having been the Super Bowl MVP, but because I escaped that lousy loser team known as the Jets" Steve tried not to show any emotions when he heard Bucky talking about his team.  
"I'll drink to that. Oh, you have finally arrived with the drinks, man. Now let's get them beers for my other boys" yelled mountain man when he saw Steve. The waiter set the beverages in the table and when he placed the wine in front of Barnes he greeted him with that sweet smile of his. "Yes, sir. I'll be back in a second" answered the blond, happy of being able to focus on his job instead of the looming presence of Bucky near him. 

As the night went on, Steve was almost coming and going nonstop refilling the drinks from his table, as it turns out having twelve professional football players with no family responsibility in one table equaled the need for a lot of alcohol. When the food was finally served he could take a break and waited next to the table as the guys ate their food. "Bro, I think you should take this in, you'll win more rings but the first one is always the best. Especially coming from a team like the Jets." started one of the guys from the table. "Oh what would you know Jules, you've been here your whole life." answered a guy and then he turned to Bucky "But he's right, you coming from the Jets and me coming from the Browns, we are in the best team now, and already a ring. Good for us." Bucky thought for a second "Hear, hear. I can't believe I had to endure that pathetic excuse of a team for three years. THREE. I should be made a saint, I just kept on making catches but the coaches kept on calling awful plays and I won't even start with that talentless baby quarterback", while finishing his rant he noticed the little waiter was making annoyed faces at his words. Bucky didn't even think he noticed it. Bucky continued "And the fans, god bless their hearts, are dumber than a building. I can't believe they still hope that team will ever win something again, they are doomed" Steve was now not only making faces but he was also getting red. 

Bucky thought he was cute the instant he had laid eyes on him but was not going to do anything about it, until he noticed his teammates hadn't arrived so he came up with the wine excuse to try to see if Steve was even slightly interested. Judging from the blush that appeared on his face when he asked for the drink he was VERY interested. But now seeing him get flustered with anger because of his Jets' comments Bucky thought he looked absolutely breathtaking. Was the waiter a New Yorker or he simply hated the Patriots as many people do? He'd find out. "Don't get me wrong, I was born in New York and that was fine but now being in Boston I finally know what a good city actually is. Having to drive an hour on to the stadium is worth it. Boston IS the greatest city in America, New York is so overrated." the waiter was livid. So he is a New Yorker too, interesting. 

It turns out yelling insults against the Jets and New York in general was a good way to spend a ceremony dedicated to New England as some of the other players and the coaches were in on the famous rivalry between the two states, especially since having lost two rings to the Giants. The trend of trash talking the team caught on with all the room and just before receiving their rings and filled with alcohol everyone was laughing at the team. Bucky watched the waiter all throughout the evening, after a while he became more used to listening to the insults but his ears remained red through the whole ordeal. Bucky was ready to jump him. He had no idea why this scrappy man was so attractive to him. Having to hide his sexuality in order to be able to play the game he loved so much had made it tricky to date as he could only get together with guys he trusted, which made strangers completely off limits, but this guy was making Bucky question that one rule. He wasn't even his type, his previous relationships had been with guys who looked like him: big and broad. His last boyfriend, Pietro, had been the furthest he had gone in terms of guys being different as he had his hair dyed gray. But he found this waiter before him to be the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on. If his career went to hell because of this guy so be it, he already had a ring anyways. 

Steve however was ready to punch him in the face at any second but kept himself from doing it as currently there were at least 52 other drunk muscular men who would tear him apart if he touched the Patriots receiver. He was dumb brave but he wasn't that dumb brave. When he saw Bucky approach him, he panicked for a second time that day as he thought he had said the fight part out loud. "Excuse me, can I have a word with you" stated Bucky instead "Oh, uhm, I don't–if my boss see–" started Steve. "Don't worry I'll cover for you" whispered Scott appearing next to him.

Steve followed him to a more private place behind the tent the party was taking place in. He was shaking. Was Bucky gonna punch him? Had he noticed how mad he was about his words and was now going to make fun of him?  
"I wanted to apologise, I know you didn't like me saying those things about New York but I wanted to see you get angry" started the football player. "Wait, what? Why?" asked Steve flabbergasted. "Well I would really appreciate if the thing I'm about to say never reached anyone's ears as this world is quite unforgiving for guys like me. But, I think you look cute when you are angry." Steve laughed at this. "Oh I see, so you did punch me and now I'm lying unconscious on the floor and I'm hallucinating." Bucky was very confused "Why would I hit you?" Steve answered. "Well I was angry about all the things you were saying about my home, you probably saw it and punched me. That's the only logical explanation to having my crush, a man who is without a doubt the most beautiful guy on Earth, saying I look cute" Bucky smiled after hearing the waiter's confession. "What's your name?" Bucky started to get closer to him. "Steve, but we are in my mind so you should know that" Steve answered confidently. "I should, shouldn't I? Well Steve, may I kiss you?" Bucky was so close to his face the blond could see his blue eyes had a freckle of green in them. "Sure, that might get me to wake up" Steve replied confidently. The blond was so sure this was happening inside his head, he had a tendency of getting punched as often as he defended people being messed with in the streets of New York, and in many of those times he had been knocked out so bad he hallucinated. He probably had had as many concussions as all the guys around there.  
Bucky closed the distance between them and Steve immediately panicked. This kiss was real, this was happening. Bucky noticed Steve went still and stopped. "Oh my god, I just told Bucky Barnes he's beautiful to his face. In real life." Bucky bursted laughing. 

Some months later  
"Bucky, please don't give them such a hard time. You know they won't win, I know they won't win, they know they won't win. There's no need to score seven touchdowns in the first quarter" Steve pleaded.  
"I know baby, but it's the last game of the regular season and it's in Gillette. Coach wants to put on a show." answered Bucky, hugging his boyfriend from behind.  
"Ugh, fine. But I can't believe you are gonna make me go to stadium and watch" moaned Steve, putting on his jersey marked with the number 10 and with the name Barnes.  
"Honey, even if no one knows my love is rooting for me it helps knowing you are in the stands wearing that jersey with my name on the back." said Bucky after kissing him.  
"Hey, how's Metal Arm Bucky gonna make his head fit in that helmet of his if his ego is so big?" replied Steve.  
"I don't know, I'll let you know after I crush your Jets" gloated Bucky leaving out the door of the place he shared with Steve.  
Steve thought of his life in Boston while driving Bucky to the stadium. He'll always be a New Yorker but he couldn't deny having moved to Massachusetts was a pretty good decision.

**Author's Note:**

> My first work in AO3 omg.  
> Okay so I'm a big Patriots fan and I watched all the videos from the ring ceremony of Super Bowl LIII and I was like imagine if one of the players fell in love with a waiter so here we are.  
> English is not my first language but I did my best.  
> I haven't written in years but I finished this in a night and I knew I had to try to put it out there.


End file.
